Tampa Vipassana Group
Sangha News
Updated September 13, 2002
Hello Everyone;
I trust this note finds you well, happy and peaceful.
(1) Sitting Groups are a great place to meet supportive people and to deepen your practice in that wonderful silence that comes from meditating together.
- North Tampa Sunday mornings 8:30 to 10:00. Still Point Yoga Studio, 2554 E Flowler Ave.(next to Merlin's Books, just West of Bruce B Downs/30th St). Contact David at dvkirby@msn.com (813) 949-2222 who offers this brief description of the group: We sit for 40 minutes and share our experience about our practice afterward. We have a few tapes and at times have used them in place of a teacher.
- North St Petersburg, NEW GROUP and NEW MEETING PLACE for an introductory sitting group. Go to Sun Coast Dharma.org for more information.
-Clearwater/Largo: Integrative Medicine Healing Center. A sitting group/class meets every Wednesday from 7 to 8:30pm. Beverly Wingert is leading this group, offering a sitting period with meditation instructions, as needed, Dharma talk (teaching) about the foundations of Buddhism and Mindfulness Meditation practice, followed by Q/A and group discussion. No registration is necessary and you are welcome to join at any time. For directions, go to http://www.steveshealyphd.com/sittinggp.htm.. You can contact Beverly at WingertB@aol.com or 727-345-8518 or 727-415-1492 (cell). NOTICE: At this time, we are only meeting the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th Wednesdays of each month. Dates we will not be meeting are: Aug 28, Sep 25, Oct 23, Nov 20, Dec 25, Jan 22 and Feb 26. In March we will resume the regular schedule. Sorry for the confusion.
- Clearwater: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Society (a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation) meets every Sunday at 6 PM for an hour of chanting and sitting, and every Tuesday evening for Dhamma discussion from 7 PM to 8:30. We also have monthly half or whole day retreats. Location: 2207 Belleair Rd, B-24, Clearwater, FL 33764. This is a second floor condo at Belleair Forest Condominium at the intersection of Belcher and Belleair Roads. (Belleair runs West to East from Fort Harrison to US 19 and Belcher runs North-South about 3 miles West of US 19). The teacher, Bhantedhammawansha can be reached at 727-536-9241 or bhantedhammawansha@yahoo.com.
- Largo/Clearwater, Meeting on Sunday afternoons, our group focuses on Health & Wellness for daily living through meditation. You will learn how to develop serenity and clarity by using the Theravadin Buddhist practices. We start at 3:00 pm and are located in Belleair Bluffs. Contact Cristy at 727-586-7024 for more information.
- Sarasota, Sunday evenings 7 to 8:30 contact Fran at manvika@yahoo.com or Ed at ehurley@tampabay.rr.com. This group meets at Body & Soul Yoga Cooperative which is located at 1919 1/2 Adams Lane in the downtown area just south of Fruitville Road on 301. You can call the center at 941-955-2639 for directions.
(2) Sangha Lending Library
Beverly in St Pete is organizing a lending library for anyone interested in participating in sharing the dharma in this way. If you have any Dharma books or tapes that you would like to contribute (once they are given, we can make no promises about where they will end up… a practice in letting go), you can bring them to one of the upcoming retreats or mail them to Tampa Vipassana Group c/o Steve Shealy, 13402-D Thomasville Circle, Tampa, FL 33617. This is a wonderful way to get a bit more mileage from those threadbare books that are cluttering up your shelves. And, of course, if you’d like to borrow a book or tape, they will be available at the classes and retreats in Clearwater and possibly others retreat locations as well.
(3) Upcoming Tampa Vipassana Retreats: (see meditation schedule for more details and directions).
- Introduction to Buddhist Meditation 1/2 day retreats: September 15th, October 13 and November 10 from 10 am to 3pm at Still Point Yoga which is located at 2554 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa (just opposite the Holiday Inn, just east of University Square Mall. No registration necessary, bring a cushion, mat, water and a light lunch. For more information about these retreats click here.
To learn about other meditation retreat options in the area:
Gainesville Vipassana Society Retreat Schedule
The Bodhi Tree Dhamma Center Seminole, FL
The Gateless Gate (Zen practice). If you know of other local retreats, please let me know about them and I’ll gladly post them here as well.
With metta,
Steve